Podcast Summary: What's Your Number?

Episode: Jews in Space - with Hila Haddad
Podcast: What’s Your Number? by Ark Media
Hosts: Yonatan Adiri & Michal Lev-Ram
Guest: Hila Haddad, Aerospace Engineer & Entrepreneur
Date: November 5, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode explores the current state and future potential of Israel's space industry, both in national security and commercial sectors, through an in-depth conversation with leading aerospace engineer and entrepreneur Hila Haddad. The discussion dives into Israel's unique strengths, the global expansion of the space economy, the challenges of moving beyond defense-driven innovation, and Hila’s efforts to pioneer civil and commercial space ventures.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Numbers of the Week: Israeli Medical Expansion & Economic Impact

• [00:11] Yonatan’s Number: Three new medical schools opened in Israel for the first time in decades.

  • Fills a gap left as the influx of doctors from the 1990s ex-Soviet aliyah declined.
  • Expected to yield 220 new doctors annually.
  • Quote: “This was a big hole in the medical system in Israel... Over the last decade, the academic school year started for the first time with three new medical schools.” – Yonatan

• [00:47] Michal’s Number: 28,524 jobs created by nearly 650 Israeli-founded companies in New York.

  • These companies contributed $13.3 billion to New York’s economy in 2024.
  • Contextualized by ongoing New York mayoral elections.

2. Israeli Healthcare System: A Model of Coexistence

• [01:51] Yonatan shares a personal story about the efficiency and inclusiveness of Israeli healthcare:
  • Complex surgeries performed for free in state-of-the-art hospitals.
  • Digital systems update families in real-time during procedures.
  • Diverse workforce: Arab, Russian, Ethiopian, and Jewish medical professionals and leaders.
  • Quote: “Managerial roles that are completely blind to ethnicity. It is absolutely a marvel from that perspective as well.” – Yonatan

3. Labor, Demographics, and the Economy

• [03:41] Discussion on labor constraints in Israel due to security tensions and demographics (Goldman Sachs, OECD reports).
• Ongoing debate over Ultra-Orthodox participation in the workforce and military.
• Underlying issue: Israel’s long-term economic growth depends on maximizing labor force participation.

4. Israel’s Space Posture and Hila Haddad’s Career

• [05:46] Introduction to Hila Haddad: key roles in defense (Iron Dome, Arrow), government, and now in private sector space tech.
  • Pivotal in bridging government defense innovation and private space entrepreneurship.
  • Quote: “Hila is a very unique figure in Israel... slowly unveiling previously stealth mode type space related company that she co founded and is leading.” – Yonatan

5. Market Update: The Windex

• [07:47] The "Windex" (index of Israeli-founded companies):

  • Market performance solidly in the green; standout firms include Monday.com, Wix, Lemonade.
  • Lemonade up 15% week-over-week; Navan’s IPO discussed.
  • Quote: “Monday.com on a fantastic rebound globally... Lemonade is topping the chart with above 15% increase in a week.” – Yonatan
  • Veranis cyber stock plummets 43.5% due to underperformance and strategic shift struggles.

• Discussions of broader market sentiment around AI, tech spending, and recent high-profile IPOs.

6. Geopolitics: Israel-Saudi Normalization

• [11:45] Anticipation of significant developments involving Israel, the US, and Saudi Arabia.
• Potential normalization could “unleash incredible global investment in Israel.”

The Long Play: Conversation with Hila Haddad

The Shifting Global Space Economy & Israel’s Role

• [14:09] Hila outlines the massive transition in the space economy:

  • The growth is now private-sector driven versus the historic government-only domain.
  • Quote: “In the last few years we see humanity using space in order to bring resources back to Earth... That’s why we see the space industry booming and it will continue growing exponentially.” – Hila [14:58]

• Israel is one of few countries able to launch indigenous satellites—but has prioritized defense, not commercial, space:

  • Quote: “We do that because it’s an urgent problem... why don’t we do it in civil arena? Because in Israel, it’s not the urgent problem to solve... now it’s the time that we should do space.” – Hila [16:16]

Israeli Innovation: Leveraging Scarcity

• [17:19] Israel’s strength is innovating under constraints: building advanced tech with limited budgets and space.
  • Simulation and validation tools have replaced massive, expensive hardware and testing phases.
  • This approach underpinned Iron Dome and is central to Hila’s stealth mode startup.

Building a Full Space Supply Chain

• [19:09] Analogy: Space transport today is like sending a water bottle in business class—unsustainable, inefficient.
  • Rockets are either expensive "taxis," more affordable "buses" (Falcon 9), or massive "trains" (Starship) for bulk.
  • The future will require infrastructure for flexible, economical space supply chains—like FedEx for space—to support a real economy beyond niche launches.
  • Quote: “We think that the space economy will mature and become real economy... so if we think about it like traffic management, we have few kinds of rockets these days.” – Hila

Gender & Entrepreneurship in Israeli Space Tech

• [22:48] The field is male-dominated globally and especially in Israel.
  • Not enough entrepreneurs—male or female—are venturing into space tech.
  • Defense sector remains the main destination for top space engineers due to funding priorities.
  • Quote: “If you do space in Israel, you’re probably in the defense industries... not enough woman and not enough entrepreneur working on space in any kind.” – Hila

National Security: The Hypersonic Arms Race & Cyber Threats

• [24:31] The major frontier is now hypersonic missiles and defending against them.
  • Testing and developing these systems is uniquely challenging, especially in the West due to safety and regulatory hurdles.
  • Future security threats are shifting to vulnerabilities in civil infrastructure and cyberattacks—crippling energy or food systems could do more damage than weapons.
  • Quote: “The national security problems will not be in weapons in the future... if you just shut down the energy of a country for 24 hours, you make much more damage than four hypersonic missiles.” – Hila

Roads vs. Rockets: Israeli Infrastructure Woes

• [26:42] When asked what is more complex—space or Israeli roads—Hila jokes:

  • Quote: “The Israeli road system is like the hardest things to deal with. I was four years in the Irondam team... We intercept everything we can, but I cannot put my kids onto school in the morning.” – Hila

• Israel’s density and commuting patterns make transportation uniquely challenging:

  • “Everyone from all around want to go to the exact place which named Tel Aviv. And so there is no solution for this kind of problem.” – Hila

Light Moment:

• [28:00] Hila: “I went to live in the Negev and I can tell you it looks like Mars. So I’m already there.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [14:58] Hila: “Elon Musk said, we must go out from the Earth to be a multi planetary humanity. It's getting very crowded and in the last few years we see the humanity using space in order to bring resources back to Earth.”
• [17:19] Hila: “Our unique knowledge in Israel and unique know how is how to make very complex systems… when you don't have enough money and enough space, you do simulations and simulation tools.”
• [24:31] Hila: “The national security problems will not be in weapons in the future… if you just shut down the energy of a country for 24 hours, you make much more damage than four hypersonic missiles.”

Societal Questions: Workforce, Demographics & Security

• [29:03] Closing quote from Rabbi Kenneth Brander:
  • “Any group that thinks they can benefit from the country but not be part of the support fabric doesn't just weaken Israel, it weakens the security of Jews around the world.”
• Discussion about the looming demographic shift: Ultra-Orthodox population could reach a third of Israel by 2050–60.
  • Quote: “This is about the workforce. It's about Israel's long term economic prospects.”
• Yonatan frames the next three years as a pivotal “third founding moment” for Israel, calling for a “new deal” between state and society, touching all facets from conscription to education to the economy.

Key Timestamps

• [00:11] Numbers of the week (medical schools, Israeli companies in NY)
• [01:51] Israeli healthcare system anecdote
• [03:41] Labor force and economic projections
• [05:46] Ultra-Orthodox workforce debate; transition to Hila Haddad
• [07:47] Windex market update
• [11:45] Geopolitics: Israel-Saudi normalization preview
• [14:09] Start of in-depth Hila Haddad interview
• [14:58] Hila on the boom in space, shift to civil/commercial
• [19:09] Space supply chain analogies
• [22:48] Gender and entrepreneurship in Israeli space tech
• [24:31] National security and the future of threats
• [26:42] Israel’s real infrastructure challenge: roads
• [29:03] Social contract, demographic debate, closing words

Tone & Language

The conversation balances a nuanced, policy-driven, and technical perspective with engaging storytelling and humor—a hallmark of the hosts' dynamic. Hila offers both optimism and candor about Israel’s unique strengths, the persistent defense focus, and barriers to broader participation in the global space boom.

For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode delivers a compelling inside view of Israel’s potential in the rapidly evolving space economy, rooted in deep technological expertise and forged by necessity. Hila’s insights bridge defense and commercial innovation and highlight the urgent need for a wider, more inclusive vision. The dialogue extends outward, connecting Israel’s story to wider demographic, economic, and security questions—on the ground, in space, and into the nation’s future.